EHS Professional – August 10, 2023

IHMM  Announces Excellence in EHS Management Award Winners for 2022

Each year IHMM is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements and distinction of the CSHM, CSMP, or ASHM who has made a worthy contribution to the communities of practice and the profession.

This award is usually given at the annual National Safety Council Congress.

For 2022, IHMM is pleased to announce two winners of this prestigious award.  Eric C. Vega, CSHM, of the Puerto Rico Department of Labor, and Michael R. Howe, CSSM, of Riverland Community College, Owatonna, Minnesota

See past IHMM Excellence in EHS Award winners here.

IHMM to Launch the Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS] Credential

The Institute is pleased to announce that it is in the final stages of completing the examination for a new credential, the Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS]. IHMM thanks the Microcredential Task Force for having worked for over 18 months in creating this credential, done so as public health experts believe that the world was not well prepared for the COVID pandemic and is likely not well prepared for the next pandemic.

In July 2023 the Biden Administration created the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR). This will be a permanent office in the Executive Office of the President (EOP) charged with leading, coordinating, and implementing actions related to preparedness for, and response to, known and unknown biological threats or pathogens that could lead to a pandemic or to significant public health-related disruptions in the United States. OPPR will take over the duties of the current COVID-19 Response Team and Mpox Team at the White House and will continue to coordinate and develop policies and priorities related to pandemic preparedness and response.

The IHMM Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS] credential blueprint is here. Look for a launch announcement and website for the CPPS soon.

Partners with AIHA

IHMM is also partnering with the American Industrial Hygiene Association [AIHA], and its C.A.R.E. project. C.A.R.E. is an acronym that reflects the principles of Community, Awareness, Responsibility, and Equity.  As such, we strive to deliver clear science-based messaging that reflects our commitment to public health across the communities where we work and live.  For more information see https://commit2care.org/eng-faq/

CUHMMC 41st Annual Conference

Oregon State University, Corvalis, Oregon

Visit IHMM’s Booth and Board Chair Bill Diesslin and Treasurer June Brock-Carroll. Below is a picture of June at the IHMM Booth, so come and say hello!

August 6-11, 2023

AHMP 36th Annual Conference

Omaha, NE

Visit IHMM’s Booth and Executive Director Gene Guilford

August 27-30, 2023

There are 1,031 different conversations going on in the IHMM/HMS Collaboration platform this week.

A collaborative culture is important for every business but is especially important for our hazardous materials, dangerous goods, environment, health, and safety communities of practice. Do you have a problem you need to solve and want the opinions of your colleagues? This is where we come together to help each other.

IHMM credentialed professionals are at the top 1% of their professions and their reach is global. We are at the forefront of environmental protection, health, and safety and this is where collaborating with the best people in their fields, always willing to help one another, lessens the stress of our jobs, and where we strive as a team to make a difference of which we are proud.

We opened COLLABORATION to enable thousands of certificants and supporters to collaborate together. You can collaborate here.

Access to COLLABORATION is through the same username/password you use to access your MYIHMM account. Having a problem? Contact Jimmy Nguyen at [email protected]

School Safety, School Choice, And More From The Schooling In America Survey

Seventy-seven percent of American school parents are concerned that a violent intruder could enter their child’s school. That is the most stunning of many interesting results from EdChoice’s 11^th Annual Schooling in America Survey.

Conducted both by telephone and online from April 18^th to May 2^nd, 2023, the poll surveyed 1,224 members of the general American public and 1,504 school parents.

School safety loomed large. While 64% of American school parents said that their school was safe when given the choice between describing their child’s school as “safe” or “unsafe,” only 49% said that it was “calm” (as opposed to “stressful”) and 52% said it was “orderly” (as opposed to “chaotic”).

Read more >> https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemcshane/2023/08/01/school-safety-school-choice-and-more-from-the-schooling-in-america-survey/?sh=48d84649346c

America’s Safest Companies 2023: Plastipak Packaging

Psychological safety is openly discussed with the leadership teams at Plastipak’s sites.

Plastipak Packaging
Manufacturer of plastic containers and packaging products
Plymouth, MI
4,000 employees | 20 sites | 3 EHS professionals

Where safety sits in an organization can impact its effectiveness. At Plastipak Packaging, safety is “owned” by operations, not the EHS function. “It is an integral part of every performance review for every associate in the company, including leadership,” explains Andrew Smigiel, the company’s EHS manager, North America.

Moving into everyday operations can create a new process. “Our overall philosophy is to learn and improve to prevent recurrence or add capacity to our system, not the traditional approach of ‘blame and punish’ to achieve zero accidents,” Smigiel explains. “We have adopted and incorporated the Human and Organization Performance (HOP) principles into our program and want to learn how work is actually accomplished, versus how the standard says it should be done.”

Read more by clicking here.

Safe + Sound Week 2023 Focuses on Mental Health in the Workplace

The annual celebration spreads awareness of workplace health and safety concern.

Every August, OSHA leads the nation in marking Safe + Sound Week. Although keeping workers safe and healthy is a year-long goal, this event invites employers to take stock of their successes.

In a release dated August 1, OSHA shared details of Safe + Sound Week 2023, which started on August 7 and runs through August 13. This year’s event highlights mental health in the workplace. With the relationship between workers and mental health coming increasingly into focus, Safe + Sound Week 2023 hopes to provide employers with the resources to address workers’ mental health.

Read more by clicking here.

US Department of Labor Finds Shreveport Hotel Denied Employee Federal Family, Medical Leave Protections; Wrongly Fired Worker

Hotel De Panache LLC pays back wages, reinstates fired employee illegally denied leave

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Hotel de Panache LLC denied an employee at its Home 2 Suites location their federally protected leave and fired the employee after they exercised their legal rights. The company is subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act because it operates multiple hotels that employee more than 50 employees within 75 miles of the employee’s worksite. The employer also received training on FMLA protections and trained their employees to prevent future violations.

Read more by clicking here.

Sun Safety: 5 Tips Employees Should Know

Working in the sun takes a toll, but here’s how workers can mitigate it.

When a job requires workers to be out in the sun, employers should take steps to protect their staff. However, employees might also be wondering how they can combat the devastating effects of prolonged sun exposure. To that end, let’s review some strategies employees should know to keep themselves in the clear while working outside in the blazing-hot sun.

• Make Sunscreen Part of the Workplace Routine
• Wear Appropriate Clothing to Repel Sunlight
• Evaluate the Risk Factors to Determine Individual Risk
• Conduct Regular Skin Checks to Prevent Illness
• Coordinate with Co-Workers to Secure Safety Protocol

Read more by clicking here.

Medical receptionists face increased aggressions from patients, researchers say

Patient aggression toward receptionists in general medical practices has become a “serious workplace safety concern,” a recent research review concludes.

Researchers at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology looked at 20 studies published from 1970 through 2022 and from five different countries. The studies featured more than 4,100 participants, 21.5% of whom were recent or current general practice receptionists.

All of the studies reported that aggressive actions by patients were “frequent and routine.” Receptionists commonly experienced verbal abuse such as swearing; shouting; accusations of malicious behavior; and the use of racist, ablest and sexist insults.

Although cases of physical violence were less frequent than verbal abuse, some acts were serious threats to the receptions’ safety and well-being. They included being hit, shaken, held at gunpoint, stalked and threatened with a razor blade. These events caused a range of negative emotions that led to burnout and fatigue.

Read more by clicking here.

Federal Court Orders 401(K) Plan Fiduciaries To Make Immediate Payments To Restore $11K Software Company Employees’ Retirement Fund

Judge Paula Xinis of the U.S. District Court for the District in Maryland has ordered Babatunde Ogunnaike and Adeboyejo Oni, fiduciaries of the Owen Software Development Co. Ltd 401(k) plan, to make immediate payments after they failed to comply with a March 2023 consent judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor. The judgment required them to restore $11,130 in missing contributions, interest and penalties to the plan. If Ogunnaike and Oni fail to comply with the order, the court may find them in civil contempt unless the employers show good cause.

In April 2022, the department filed suit after an investigation by its Employee Benefits Security Administration determined the Rockville, Maryland company and other plan fiduciaries did not make certain that employee contributions were forwarded to the plan in a timely manner between 2017 and 2018. Senior trial attorneys Alejandro Herrera and Elizabeth Kuschel litigated the action on the department’s behalf.

Read more by clicking here.

Creating a Safety Culture Within a Landscaping Company

Learn how to develop and foster a safety culture and why it’s important. Hint: It starts at the top.

Landscaping companies must be ready for anything at any moment. For example, team members operate dangerous equipment outside and often in extreme heat. That’s why it’s important to develop and foster a safety culture. Knowledge, training and mentoring new team members reduces the chance of injuries and your potential financial losses. This includes:

• Daily Safety Considerations for a Landscaping Company
• Defining Safety Culture?
• Why is Safety Culture Important for Your Landscaping Company?
• Safety Culture Must Begin at the Top
• How to Develop a Framework for Safety Culture
• Methods to Discover and Reduce Hazards
• and more

Read more by clicking here.

America’s Safest Companies 2023: Performance Contractors

Critical thinking spurred by go/no-go evaluation is at the core of the company’s safety program.

Performance Contractors
Industrial contractors
Baton Rouge, LA
5,760 employees | 90 sites | 140 EHS professionals

It’s not often you hear of a construction company that takes a page from NASA in its safety training, but that’s exactly what Performance Contractors has done. The concept—a mental checklist that each worker is prompted to perform prior to a task—is called “Go/No-Go Decision.”

“Far too often, workers fail to evaluate the hazard, downplay the risk, or simply make a poor choice to proceed without the safeguards to protect them,” explains Kelvin Gray, the company’s corporate EHS director-compliance.

Read more by clicking here.

Improve your sleep quality: Free training for workers and supervisors

An “evidence-based program designed to help supervisors support their employees’ work-life balance and sleep health” is available from the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences.

“Sleep is vital to sustain the physical and mental abilities necessary for success in daily life,” the institute’s Center for Supportive Leadership says. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 out of 3 adults don’t get the recommended minimum of seven hours of sleep a night.

Leslie Hammer, co-director of the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center at the institute, developed the free training. It includes a one-hour online educational program and a two-week behavior-tracking exercise for supervisors, as well as sleep-tracking and goal-setting exercises for all workers.

Read more by clicking here.

Bollé Safety Announces Partnership with Breast Cancer Research Foundation

The company will launch a support campaign this fall.

Bollé Safety—which specializes in PPE eyewear—has confirmed its support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) in part to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.

In a recent release, Bollé Safety announced it will donate 50 cents for each pair of Rush+ Pink prescription safety glasses sold in North America from September 1 to November 1, 2023, while supplies last. The lightweight, small-frame Rush+ is one of the company’s signature products. According to a release, Bollé Safety has committed to donating a minimum of $10,000.

“As a leading player in PPE, we are committed to supporting causes in line with our values,” Bollé Safety’s Vice-President of Brand Anne-Sophie François said in a statement. “This action enables us to highlight the role of women in the industrial world, still a very male-dominated sector, and to raise funds for associations fighting breast cancer.”

For more information on what BCRF has planned for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and beyond, visit the nonprofit organization’s official website.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Statement By US Secretary of Labor Su on July Jobs Report

Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su issued the following statement on the July 2023 Employment Situation report:

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 187,000 jobs in the month of July — and added an average of 218,000 jobs per month over the past three months — continuing the steady and stable growth that is bringing economic security to workers and families across the country. The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5 percent, continuing the longest period of under 4-percent unemployment in over 50 years. Healthcare, social assistance, construction, and financial activities all gained jobs in July.

This jobs report is the latest evidence that the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda is expanding pathways to the middle class and leaving no one behind. The solid job market continues to deliver employment and earnings opportunities for our growing workforce, with average hourly earnings increasing 4.4 percent over the year and with the share of working-age Americans who have jobs at a 20-year high. For the fifth straight month, the labor force participation rate sits at 62.6 percent — a sign of the labor market staying on course and navigating changes to the makeup of our working population…..”

Read more by clicking here.

Researchers say zero-tolerance cannabis policies may be ‘too broad’

Instead of having a zero-tolerance policy on cannabis use, employers may want to consider “minimum wait periods before a work shift when cannabis consumption is not allowed,” researchers say.

In 2018, recreational cannabis use became legal in Canada. To better understand changes in workers’ cannabis use, a team from the Institute for Work and Health used “three waves” of surveys from 2018 to 2020. They included a sample of responses from more than 1,700 workers.

The team found that the workers who reported using cannabis during or before work were twice as likely to be injured on the job as those who didn’t use cannabis.

However, “workers who only use cannabis outside of work hours are at no greater risk of getting injured at work than workers who do not use cannabis at all,” the researchers write.

Read more by clicking here.

America’s Safest Companies 2023: MasterBrand Cabinets LLC

Good isn’t good enough for MasterBrand Cabinets. That motivation has driven the company to improve its own safety record, and it hopes to encourage its industry peers to focus on safety, too.

MasterBrand Cabinets
Kitchen and Bath Cabinet and Countertop Manufacturer
Jasper, IN
13,732 domestic employees | 30 domestic sites | 50 EHS professionals

One way MasterBrand Cabinets makes its workplaces safer is through transparent benchmarking.

As an example, the company uses what it calls daily management to track and verify the efficacy of processes, including safety, at all levels of the organization. Each day, a green or red visual indicates whether an objective was met or not met. Those visuals are placed where everyone can see them—on the plant floor, in meeting areas and conference rooms.

Read more by clicking here.

Safe + Sound Week is here! View the Safe + Sound video > https://youtu.be/Rr-hjUfbIl0 

OSHA’s Safe + Sound Campaign is a nationwide opportunity to raise awareness and understanding of the value of proactive occupational safety and health (OSH) programs in all workplaces. Safe + Sound Week takes place from August 7-13, 2023. Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe. We look forward to your participation!

Safe + Sound emphasizes the need for safety programs at small- and mid-sized businesses, which are more likely to have limited resources dedicated to safety. As you know, effective OSH programs can help organizations identify and manage workplace risk before they cause injury or illness, improving sustainability and the bottom line. Safety and health management systems are a critical best practice to ensure that OSH programs achieve significant results and lower risk exposure.

Welcome to the 2023 OSHA Safe + Sound Week > https://www.osha.gov/safeandsoundweek/  and its focus on mental health.

Share Your Safe + Sound Week Journey on Social Media

Show your participation in Safe + Sound Week on social media and encourage others to take the pledge using #SafeAndSoundAtWork so that everyone can follow along! Need ideas? Check out the Social Media Toolkit

IHMM Scholarship Program

The Institute of Hazardous Materials Management is pleased to have created $32,000 in academic scholarships, divided equally between $16,000 for students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate education in approved schools and who are also Student CHMMs, and $16,000 for students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate education in approved schools and who are also Student ASHMs.

IHMM seeks to foster the growth and academic success of students whose courses of education, and participation in one of our Student certifications, will lead to those students becoming fully-certified IHMM credential holders later in their professional lives.

Go to >  https://ihmm.org/scholarship/

IHMM  – 26 Fellows Are Mentors 

IHMM Fellows Committee Chair Atanu Das, CHMM, is leading the effort within the IHMM Collaboration networking platform to provide instruction to the more than 75 IHMM Fellows in becoming mentors.

Given the extraordinary experience Fellows have, this is a unique opportunity for IHMM Fellows to help guide more recent certificants in their professional development activities.

IHMM’s Collaboration platform contains a “Mentor Match” module [see below at right] that allows mentors to signup designating the hours, number of mentees, subject areas, and length of time they wish to mentor – as well as allowing mentees to signup requesting assistance in specified areas. The mentor match module does the rest by matching mentors and mentees.

Recert Video #1

Recert Video #2

IHMM Recertification Videos

IHMM is pleased to release two YouTube instructional videos about navigating the IHMM recertification process. These step-by-step videos easily enable IHMM certificants to start and complete a recertification application.

While the full recertification cycle is 5 years, IHMM encourages all certificants to start a recertification application and add certification maintenance points as they are earned to make the final submission quick and easy to accomplish.

• Every CSHM and CSMP should start a recertification application now.
• Even if your recertification is years away, starting an application now and adding your accumulated points enables you to see where you are all the time and it makes it very easy when you have to file your application

IHMM is a member of ASSP and is pleased to bring this important information to all of its certificants.

New Free Training Programs Offered by ASSP

ASSP is offering six new free, instructor-led courses developed under a Susan Harwood Grant from OSHA. These courses provide guidance on planning and managing pandemics; review regulations and a legal framework for infectious diseases; discuss industry best practices and more. The first course started July 27, register today!

Also, we are very interested in having end users register and take the course.  We are hoping that our OSH colleagues who work for labor organizations will get the word out to teams so they will have the opportunity to participate.

Susan Harwood link: https://www.assp.org/resources/osha-susan-harwood-grant

Courses:

• Pandemic Challenges: How to Return to Work Safely [August 17^th]
• Managing Infectious Diseases and Health Hazards in the Construction Industry  [August 24^th]

IHMM is a member of ASSP and is pleased to bring this important information to all of its certificants.

ASSP News

• Episode 112: Developing a Comprehensive Fall Protection Program for Your Workplace

• OSHA Aims to Reduce Hazards in Warehouses and Distribution Centers

• OSHA Issues Hazard Alert for Heat

• From Paper to Pixels: Physical Security Technology for a Safer Facility

• Q&A: How Can Construction Safety Professionals Help Prevent Struck-by Incidents?

• New Rule Expands Injury/Illness Data Reporting Requirements for High-Hazard Industries

• An Update on ISO 45001 With Kevin Lehner

• OSHA’s Proposed Rule Aims to Improve Fit of PPE in Construction

ASSP Webinars

Respiratory Protection Program Management – Susan Harwood Training Grant

University of Texas Medical Branch, William J. Pate, CHMM

This training course is intended to educate participants on the requirements of developing and implementing a compliant Respiratory Protection Program. The focus of this course will be on topics related to preparation for an infectious disease pandemic. At the end of this training the attendee should be able to:
1) Manage an effective respiratory protection program through proficient application of 29 CFR 1910.134
2) Compare potential routes of exposure
3) Identify and implement potential controls (engineering, administrative, and PPE)
4) List the equipment needed to support fit testing
5) Explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative fit testing
6) Discuss the different types of respiratory protection available
7) Demonstrate correct donning/doffing of respiratory protection

This training course is 7.5 hours and participants will receive a certificate of completion that may be suitable for professional certification maintenance (CSP, CIH, CHMM, CHSP, etc.).

This course will provide 7.5 Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) contact hours. Accreditation statement: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is approved with distinction as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Louisiana State Nurses Association –  Approver, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. LSNA Provider No. 4002176

This training is available only to employees and employers who are subject to OSHA regulatory requirements.  Grant-funded training is not available to state or local government employees unless they have occupational safety & health responsibilities (e.g. occupational safety and health trainers, program managers, committee members, or employees responisble for abating unsafe and unhealthy working conditions for their organization).  Registration in this course confirms that meet these conditions.  This training will include the opportunity to don, doff, and fit test respiratory protection including N95, half-face, full-face, and powered air-purifying respirators.  Anyone participating in this training and wanting to put on a respirator agrees that they have been medically cleared by their employer to do so in accordance with OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard.

The 8-hour training program is offered at various dates from March through September. For more information and registration for this FREE program go here >> https://www.utmb.edu/ehs/programs/radiation-occupational-safety-program/RPPSHTG2023

RCM&D Professional Liability Insurance

HMS is proud to have partnered with RCM&D to be able to offer an outstanding comprehensive professional liability insurance program to IHMM certificants. Here, you will find information about this important program offering Environmental Consultants and Engineers Professional Liability coverage. This coverage is intended to add protection for loss stemming from actual or alleged negligent acts, errors and omissions in performing professional services.

For more information see > https://hazmatsociety.org/professional-liability-insurance/